Poetry, memoir,blogs and photographs from my world on the west coast of Canada.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A Talmud Angel

[image from Flickr.com]

"Every blade of grass has its Angelthat bends over it and whispers....'grow,grow'."
The Talmud

[I penned this poem for a dear friend who is walking through the kind of days where the spirit grows faint at the prospect of putting one foot in front of the other. Days when life is pain and the heart grows weary. I post it here to encourage any of you who are experiencing dark days right now. In the midst of the fuss and frenzy of the holidays, it can sometimes look like most people have privileged and easy and happy lives,(they don't; no one is immune from trouble and sadness). All the hoopla can make one's own circumstances seem harder to bear. This is to remind us all that the new year will dawn, and spring will come again. Flowers will bloom, sunshine will bless us all, and a happier day will dawn for one and all. That is my wish for 2011. Let us all continue to Live In Hope!]

Those are the dayswhen my eyesseek the first lightof morning,receiving each dayas a new beginningwith the possibilityof new perceptions;days when I rememberthere is alarger landscapethan the one we see;when I know,if I look out throughmy small window,I may only see gray cloudsover the city.Yet if I enlargethat windowand my vision,I can see the whole sky,a patch of bluejust breakingon the horizon.

In those timeswhen all around meseems to bechaotic and dissembling,I have come to understandthe universe is simply rearranging, through times of transition,and on the other sidethere may besomething wonderfulwaiting thatI can't yet see.

I rememberthat every cell and seedin the universehas one purpose:to grow.

Even when living feels too hard,I still believe in life.It is the underlying principleof the universe.In the midst of war,political imprisonment, tortureand the worst that humankindcan do to one another,a human’s instinctis solely to survive,to live long enough to arrive at a better day.

When your soul issorrowing and defeated,and resists putting one tired foot in front of the other,what I see isthe hugeness of your spiritthat survived the trenchesof childhood,and the heartbreak of lost love,to get to this placewhere you feelyou are coming up empty.

With all of my belief,in you, in lifeand in tomorrow,(I who have walked through similarbarren wastelands),until you canbelieve, again,yourself,let me be the Talmud angelwho bends over thesolitary blade of grassthat is your life,and whispers to it:“Grow! Grow!”

31 comments:

Beautiful, I think you meant 2011...I think we all need to hear this. It appears, all shiny and pretty, as people dash about, but not always the case. It is time of turmoil and emotions, reminders of your past and worries of our futures~

We all need to here this from time to time....growing is never an easy task..especially this time of year...memories good and bad, happy and sad....much to be thankful for, much to long for...all in the need of growth...thank you...bkm

sometimes it's not til later that i look back and realize that the universe had something much bigger in store for me.

i think this would be a really shitty time of the year to be struggling - and my prayer for anyone in that spot is for them to have a Miracle. A miracle is a shift in perception, and with that is a return of strength and freedom. Just wish i knew how to bottle that one up, lol. I know it's possible though, it's happened to me before. That moment when i just knew 'it' had to be that way.

Heartbreak hurts. I mean, it's possible to physically feel it. :( Hate that part of being a mere mortal. And we keep getting up and doing it! Thank god for the return of the moments though when you just know it's all been worth it.

Sherry!!!oh this is a beautiful piece! Yes yes yes! Be the Talmud angel for as many of us as you can - we all need that whisper, sometimes. Going back in for more treatment tomorrow - I wrote a piece about sleeping tablets today... I occasionally write about the reality of this medical life... but I always feel reluctant and hesitant.. because I would rather be the Talmud angel all the time :)

Thank you all for your comments. Each one means so much! Shaista, we love it when you write about the real stuff-then we know when to whisper our encouragement! Sometimes we are the angel, sometimes we are the grass~we all take turns! I find your spirit very radiant, in the midst of everything!

This is a deeply heart felt prayer. Thank you for being the Talmud Angel for so many of us. If we each whispered, "Sherry, Grow, Grow." You might get blown away and then what would we do? But, I will whisper and remember that we must take turns being both angel and blade of grass. Thank you,

What a wonderful, uplifting message, Sherry. If you don't mind, I shall print it and pin it on my inspiration board. You've capsulized sentiments that other authors spend 300 pages expressing. Your brilliance shines in every stanza.

magnificent Sherry. This reminds me of my spiritual direction session last week. My director asked me what is it that allows me to feel blessed in the midst of many difficult times overlapping. I sat in silence for a while. What rose to the surface was the word "memory." I remember all the times that were difficult in the past, I remember that they passed, and these memories lift me...faith was the next word that arose from more silence...together with memory faith carries me along and then I can see, feel, know blessing.